I killed my virtual Chia Pet

Background: with Mac OSX, you get a wee thing called “Dashboard” where you can put stuff like weather listings and games and all sorts. I added a little virtual Chi Pet (a not-quite-namesake for the pottery stuff that has grass growing out of it). You have to water it every three days, or put it into “hibernation” if you are going away. All was going until a few days ago when I logged on and it said “Your Chi Pet has died”. Frick.

Seriously, should I ever become a mother to some poor unfortunate child, have social services on speed-dial, will you?

To cheer myself up, I got some new sandals:

Actually, it wasn’t because of the Chi Pet. It was because of the town-shopping-old sandals-blisters incident. Ouch!

These new ones are comfy, pretty and leather-free! Hurrah!

Anyway, on to the knit…

Egged on by Lolly over at Ravelry, I’ve cast on for the Wren cardigan (a free pattern over at Berroco) for Project Spectrum.

I’m making the sleeves a total of 6″ long instead of 4″, in an attempt to cover my flarms (flabby arms).

The yarn is red Noro Lily cotton/silk yarn (and before anyone points out the irony of buying new cruelty-free shoes and yet knitting with boiled-bug-casing, I KNOW).

Two entries for PS – metallics:

Gold sequin cushion.

My Very Hollywood sunglasses (with camera reflection).

Aaaaaaannnnnnd … we’re clear!

Warning!

The following post contains images of human-computer interfacing. They may be considered nauseating by most right-thinking persons and are not suitable for anyone.

Crafting will follow the lurve.

I wuv woo.

I’m still working on a few hiccups (like the fact I can’t see pictures on Norma’s blog or Grumperina’s site and I can’t download my audio books from Audible.co.uk) but overall it’s been a smooth ride.

Crafty Goodness.

This is what I’ve decided to do with the Rowan 4-ply cotton which used to be the Rowan design “Martha”.

It’s going to be a scoop-neck summer cardigan (although when I’ll get around to making it is another thing all together).

I’m planning elbow-length sleeves and for it to be fitted, but not clinging. I’m going to work it in pieces to provide some stability for the cotton yarn. Oh, how traditional!

EDIT – Check out one of the Knitty surprises. A cardigan with the exact same stitch pattern – talk about weird!

Lookie what I got from Get Knitted!

You can’t see what the needles are (I wasn’t really paying attention when I took the photograph) but they are the knitting equivalent of hen’s teeth; 2.25 mm bamboo double pointed needles!!!

The 2 mm are too small and sometimes the 2.5 mm are too large.  Just call me the Golidlocks of sock knitting needles, I suppose!

(Yes, three exclamations marks were strictly necessary.)

And check out that crochet hook! Mmmmm….. comfort grip ….
And finally, Wanda rocks.

She held a blog competition/draw for her blog’s anniversary and I won 5 balls of Lion Brand Cotton Ease. The yarn is really light and doesn’t feel like an aran-weight at all. I see a nice sleeveless or short sleeved top in my future and I already have a couple of ideas floating around in my head.

Thank you, again, Wanda.

Brief, but all the better for it!

Countdown: 8 days

Can it be done?

I’ve got eight make that seven days to knit one sock. I have two separate medical-related appointments to accompany my mum on, which knocks out half a day each for recovery time. I also have to start thinking about packing for my holiday. Plus I’m also doing some last-minute sewing for my trip. So, here’s the question: Can I do it?

Oh, yeah. I finished the first sock. Did I mention that?

 

Unblocked and unworn and therefore looking like crap.

The second sock – using the cable needle as the waste yarn for the provisional cast on.

I’ll have all cast off/pattern/needle details once I’ve finished, so don’t ask at the moment!

I’m sorry about not responding to comments like I normally do. I’m now on the computer for about an hour a day because I just can’t justify the time.

Talking of which, I’m going to become a MacBook baby! I’ve been needing a replacement for the 4 kilograms of wasted space that is my current laptop and, having done research, I’ve decided to go over to “The White Side”… My brother says he’s going to disown me – hehe!

Any advice from Mac users will be greatly appreciated. I use mostly freeware/open source software at the moment, so I don’t anticipate any problems with moving over.

I was bored and so I decided to do a little test square in the Opal Rodeo Cotton yarn shown last time:

Messin’ around with yarn.

I went through all my stitch directories and couldn’t find anything that was simple, would bring out the best in the yarn and not disappear in the stripes and ragg colouring. I failed. I then remembered that someone had done the hard work for me. Thanks Rob!

Oh, and in response to comments from the last post – I wish I were going to Jamaica. For the World Cup final. Or semi-final. Or any cricket match. I am instead going to what is possibly the anti-Jamaica – the Highlands of Scotland. Och Ai! I’m fifth-generation Scottish, so I’m aloud to do that

Not that I’m obsessed with the cricket, but this is my desktop wallpaper. Come on Monty!

Right, I’m off to paint a bath panel (that’s not a euphemism, by the way) .